


Welcome to the Family!

by Ninji



Series: in which some skeletons have a pet of sorts [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Multi, Polyamory, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 06:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20502170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninji/pseuds/Ninji
Summary: A new pair of brothers comes to visit and oop now they live here I guess!! Will everyone be okay with these sudden turn of events? maybe.





	Welcome to the Family!

**Author's Note:**

> i’m not dead just exhausted!!!
> 
> i’ve been working on this BASTARD of a fic for months, seriously my goal was to finish it by the beginning of fuckin a p r i l, i desperately need to get better at not doing... THAT
> 
> i’m worried i may get flack for slim’s characterization. he’s very shy and skittish, and tho i’ve seen a few fics of him acting in a similar manner, i’ve seen more people characterize him as suave and fuckboy-like. while i dont mind that (i actually REALLY LOVE IT lmao) i know this may not be everyone’s cup of tea. i’m sorry, this is just my headcanon _:(´□`」 ∠):_

For a good eighty percent of the time, the cacophony of clattering cookware and bickering over breakfast from downstairs wasn’t enough to drive her out of bed in the mornings. With six other housemates it was a common occurrence and, in all honesty, she had grown used to it rather quickly. This morning, however, the slam of the front door vibrated harshly throughout the house and jolted her out of her half-asleep-half-awake limbo. She tried not to think about it too much — maybe one of the boys accidentally closed it too hard when they went to get the paper — but eventually she heard a voice unlike any of the others she was used to.

This voice was loud and animated, similar to Blue’s, and sounded like it wanted to be suave and mature but was an octave or two too high. She couldn’t make out any words but they didn’t sound too happy.

Her curiosity eventually got the best of her; she pulled on a pair of pajama shorts and fixed her tank then walked out into the hall. Her plan was to look over the banister to the first floor and see what was exactly all the fussing was about. She didn’t have any plans to go to the living room and greet the stranger — she wasn’t brave enough for that. As far as she was concerned, she currently didn’t exist and won’t exist until they leave.

She kept her footfalls as light as possible to avoid any creaking floorboards. When she got to where the wall and banister met, she kept silent and tried her best to stay invisible, peeking over the wooden railing to the floor below her.

To her surprise, _two_ new skeletons had appeared in her living room: one was very short, even shorter than Blue, and dressed in all black while the other one (their sibling, maybe?) stood awkwardly, pulling the fur-lined hood of his jacket over his face. She couldn’t see his eyes, but from her position she could see the glint of two golden canines, not dissimilar to Red’s own false tooth. He was tall too, probably would be taller than the others if he wasn’t (cowering?) slouching.

“whaddya mean you were evicted?” Red snarled at the smaller skeleton, obviously displeased by his sudden appearance.

“I mean exactly that,” the skeleton spat back, equally as vexed. “We always paid our rent on time with no problems, and we kept the place immaculate, but apparently just us being monsters was enough for the landlord to get complaints about us. We were given a week to move out.”

“and ya come to us _why_?”

“Because no one else would let us move in. You all were all we had left. And _don’t_ act like you don’t have the room for two more, because I know for a _fact_ that you do. This place is massive.”

Red was about to snap at him again, it seemed, but restrained himself when the taller skeleton spoke to him. His voice was nearly silent — she couldn’t make out what he was saying to Red. Red sighed in defeat, and Sans sat up from where he was lounging on the couch.

“look, razz, i wouldn’t really have a problem with you guys staying here with us, but we got a human now, and —“

“A _human_?” the small skeleton (Razz? Was that his name?) spat with disgust. “_Here_? Why on earth would you have a human living with you?” The taller skeleton did his best to shrink behind his brother at the mention of a human housemate. It was kind of silly to look at given their extreme height difference.

Sans shrugged smugly and Red, with his arms crossed, scoffed. “i don’t really think that’s any of ya business, squirt.”

Razz stopped in his tracks, a knowing grin creeping onto his face. “Oh. So it's _that_ kind of human, huh?”

“what are you gettin’ at?” Red’s eye sockets narrowed dangerously.

“I think you know ‘what I’m getting at,’ Red. You all have a little mate, don’t you? A little human pet? Tell me, do they belong to one of you? Or do you all share them?”

“she don’t ‘belong’ to anyone, you lil’ pisstain! have some goddamn respect if you wanna come into our house.”

The taller skeleton kept a hand on Razz’s shoulder, probably reminding him to behave himself. Whatever the reason, it worked, and Razz backed off with a _hmph_ (well, it wasn’t like he was wrong or anything, but still). Without any warning, his amethyst pupils shot up to the second floor and made contact with her own. “Is that her up there?”

Without sparing a second, the girl retreated, like feeble prey fleeing the claws of a cat. She ran to the safety of her bedroom and shut the door.

Well _that_ was a fucking mess. She sighed, giving in to the fact that if they want to move in, they’re going to have to meet sooner or later. She removed her pajamas begrudgingly and picked out her clothes for the day. A knock sounded on her door right as she was pulling a clean shirt over her head. “Come in.”

Sans peeked in, looking admittedly sheepish. “hey, babe. we didn’t wake you, did we?”

She shrugged. “It’s fine, I guess I had to wake up anyway. Who is that? Are they moving in?”

The skeleton returned her shrug and sat on the edge of her bed. His eyes were haggard and tired, obviously stressed by the situation. “i guess? we’re their last resort from what i can tell. can’t just kick ‘em to the curb and call it a day. i know it’s such short notice, i’m not too happy about it either.”

“I mean, I’m not upset or anything, just... anxious, I guess.” She sighed through her nose, trying not to look too disappointed. “Who are they anyway?”

“just another pair of brothers. the runt is razz and the tall guy is slim. they’re complete opposites.”

“How so?” she asked, stepping into a clean skirt.

“well, as you could probably tell, razz is a vindictive little brat who’s spoiled beyond rotten and is used havin’ his way. slim’s usually a gentle giant, pretty silent too, but really protective of his brother.”

Oh man, Boss is bad enough when he gets into one of his bossy (heh) moods, now she has to deal with a compact version of him who’s bossy 24/7? She turned to Sans, a tired look in her eyes. “I’m already so exhausted.”

This made him laugh, standing up and wrapping his arms around her comfortingly. “yeah. me too, kid. but i think it’s in our best interest to go introduce yourself soon. otherwise we won’t hear the end of it.” he let her go, patting her butt lightly as she walked into the hall. “go brush your teeth and all your other little human things and I’ll walk with you to the living room, ok?”

The only response Sans was given was an unenthusiastic groan.

Downstairs, Red and Razz were busy staring each other down, trying their damnedest to intimidate the other. It was safe to say that Red had the advantage, being at least a head taller that Razz, but that only encouraged the latter to try harder.

“ya look ridiculous,” Red grumbled at him. “like a lil ankle-bitin’ chihuahua.”

“At least I’m not anywhere near as much of a slob as you. You look worse since the last time I saw you.”

“what’s yer point? i know i’m lookin’ a bit rough, work’s been givin’ me a lotta shit lately. but at least i can admit that, unlike your lil arrogant, egotistical —“

“red, m’lord... please.” Both skeletons stopped in their tracks upon hearing Slim’s fragile, near silent whine. He pulled and tugged on his jacket hood and he had an anxious look to his eyes; it was obvious that the arguing was starting to stress him out.

Razz sighed, reaching up to pat his brother’s back once. “Mutt’s right. We just got here, so let’s just find the strength to hold off arguing. For now.”

Red just grunted in agreement, turning to face the stairs.

Sans appeared at the top, waving down to the other skeletons. “hey guys.”

“Where’s the human?” Razz asked almost immediately. Sans blinked, looking next to him and realizing the human wasn’t accompanying him. He walked out of view for a short moment then returned, descending the stairs while holding the wrist of his apprehensive mate.

“aw, you look cute as a button,” Red cooed at her with a fangy smile. It was true — she had cleaned herself up well and adorned her best outfit. Her cheeks reddened at his words and she inched behind Sans, obviously embarrassed.

Razz, with his arms crossed, studied her carefully from head to toe. Upon being this close to him she realized how small he really is; he’s only a hair’s breadth taller than her and that’s with the aid of heeled boots. Despite his short stature, he was incredibly intimidating and she found herself frozen under his gaze.

“You are a cute one,” he said with a taunting smile exposing his razor sharp teeth, “for a human.”

“I, um...” she fumbled over her words, mentally scolding herself for looking like a fool. “thank you? You look very... nice.”

Razz raised a brow bone, and she couldn’t quite tell if he was amused or not . “Just ‘nice?’ And that’s all?”

“I-I mean—_!!“_

Razz’s hand shot up and grasped her cheeks, securely and without warning. He turned her head this way and that, paying close attention to any and every detail. His scrutinization was so intensely threatening — even without the advantage of height — that she was sure she would piss herself if her mates weren’t nearby.

Razz released her face, satisfied with... whatever he was satisfied with. “You have pretty eyes. I’m Razz.”

For a short moment she just stood there, mouth open and unsure what to do before she realized that he had finally given her his name. “Oh! Um, hi! It’s nice to meet you.”

The skeleton hummed, then gestured to the taller one next to him. “This is my brother, Slim. Or you can call him Mutt, he doesn’t mind.”

Slim jerked upon realizing that he was now being introduced. His tired eyes darted around, finally settling on her.

“Hi, Slim.” She greeted as friendly as she could manage. “It’s really nice to meet you.” She held out a hand for Slim to shake, but he recoiled. Her heart instantly wrenched and she felt guilty. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to shake hands if you don’t wanna.”

Slim looked conflicted, his brow bones creasing; his pupils flicked from her hand, to Razz, to her, and finally to her hand again. He tentatively reached out and held it, giving what had to have been the weakest, limpest handshake she has ever experienced. Nonetheless, she smiled and thanked him, leaving Slim with a ghost of a smile on his own face. Regardless of what could be said of him, he’s definitely trying his best and she can appreciate that.

Razz clapped his hands once, though he still seemed very unimpressed. “Great. Now that our pleasantries have been exchanged, we need to bring our stuff from the car and to our new room. Mutt and I will be sharing a bed.”

“You brought everything with you already?” Red mumbled. “Before we even said yes?”

The smaller skeleton sneered at him. Already opening the front door. “Don’t be silly. We still have furniture at our flat, we only brought what we needed. We’re not stupid.”

As it turns out, “what he needed” actually meant everything _but_ the furniture. Razz’s clothes, pillows, books, tools and small weaponry... There was so much that Boss and Papyrus had to use their brute strength to bring it all to the second floor. Sans wasn’t of much help as he had decided he would “supervise” their progress while reclining on the couch — a typical Sans move. The human tried to help by carrying a black leather suitcase that probably weighed about as much as Razz himself, but as soon as the tiny tyrant caught her with it he became angry (or was he flustered??) and snatched it from her hands to carry it up the stairs himself, not once struggling with the sheer weight of it.

Slim brought his own belongings in himself; a bag of clothes, some books, and to the girl’s surprise, a worn and dirty stuffed dog with a bell hanging from its red terrycloth collar. He hadn't noticed her watching, but he still tried his best to keep it hidden from view. Was he embarrassed? She pouted — later on she would show him one of her own stuffed animals to help him not feel so shameful about it.

“Is that everything?” Boss had asked after about twenty minutes of moving the pair’s (read: mostly Razz’s) belongings up the stairs. He hadn’t even broken a sweat.

“I believe so.” Razz replied. “We have until the end of next week to get the rest of our stuff from the apartment.”

“Does this mean we can rest now?” Sans chimed in, absolutely not having moved from his spot on the couch. Razz scoffed at him while Slim smiled the tiniest bit at his carefree attitude.

“Darling,” Boss caught the girl’s attention. She stood up ramrod straight.

“Yeah, Boss?”

“Go to the kitchen and fix us some lunch. Sandwiches would be nice.”

“Yes sir!”

She happily scurried off to the kitchen, and Razz gave Boss a sharp side-eye, leaning back in Red’s leather recliner.

“Are you sure she’s not your slave human or anything? Because I’m really getting the vibe that she is.”

Boss turned to him, his magic beginning to spark with salient fury. “Razz, I can tolerate you being an entitled, spoiled brat. But i will not tolerate you speaking ill of anyone, do you understand? _Especially_ not our human mate.”

Sans noticed Boss starting to getting the tiniest bit twitchy — something that’s known to happen when his high LV is about to cause him to lose control of his anger — and quickly hopped off of the couch. “hey boss, how’s about we, uh,” he took a chance and grabbed his wrist — his bones were hot to the touch, and the pulse of his SOUL was abnormally rapid.

“how ‘bout we get the others okay? i’m sure they’d love to get some lunch. c’mon dude, walk with me.”

Boss glared at Razz a couple seconds longer, looking ready to pounce on his tiny frame and bombard him with a flurry of bone spears, before taking a deep, slow inhale through his nasal aperture to calm his erratic magic, then wordlessly following Sans up the stairs.

Razz kept his glowering stare on Boss as he walked away with Sans, and once they were out of sight he glanced behind him, sighing to himself upon seeing Slim’s current state: he was obviously extremely uncomfortable — averting his gaze and clutching the fabric of his jacket in tight fists, hugging himself and trembling the tiniest bit, fluffy hood obscuring the top half of his skull. If his hood was down, one could see that it looked like he was about to burst into tears, though Razz could tell without having to so much as look at his face. He approached his brother slowly, touching his arms and gently prying them away from his body. He held his wrist in his own hand and gently pat the opposite arm with his other.

“Hey,” he whispered, the softest he’s spoken since stepping foot into this house. “Mutt, you’re fine. No one’s going to get hurt.”

When Slim didn’t respond, he squeezed his carpals reassuringly, projecting feelings of _safety / security / love_, trying his hardest not to let his feelings of guilt get in the way of soothing his brother. This could have been easily avoided but for some reason, Razz just didn’t know how to keep his own mouth shut. And now his brother is on the verge of a panic attack because of it.

“You’re fine. I’m sorry, I’ll try to be better,” he murmured softly. “Let’s go sit in our room, just us two. You can take a short nap if you feel like you need to.” Slim was finally able to respond with a silent nod and Razz, relieved that he was able to bring his brother back to lucidity, interlocked their phalanges together and quietly led him up the stairs to their new shared bedroom.

♪

The human took pride in being able to cook for her skeletal mates. Usually either Papyrus or Boss took charge in making food for the rest of the household so when she was given the opportunity to cook for a change she jumped right to it.

She jotted down the skeletons’ preferred sandwiches in her little kitchen notebook a while back. She noticed Boss had something similar, a journal full of recipes for each skeletons’ (and most recently, her own) favorite snacks and entrees. He never talked about it or anything, but she did notice him burying his metaphorical nose in it when someone was sick or had a bad day. It was endearing to see how deeply he cared for everyone, so it was only right to follow in his footsteps.

She flipped to the very first page of the worn notebook. The first on the list was a BLT with ketchup for Sans. She got the ingredients from the fridge, put it all together and plopped it on a clean plate with a side of greasy popato chisps.

She was halfway done with the last sandwich — a banana and orange blossom honey for Stretch — when she realized that she had no idea what the newcomers’ preferred foods were. Should she go ask? Should she wait until later and risk being scolded by Razz?

“hey babydoll,” Red walked into the kitchen suddenly, yanking her out of her thoughts and causing her to jump. “how’s lunch comin’ along?” he was carrying a couple beer cans to put them into the recycle bin — undoubtedly because Boss noticed them piling up in his room and pestered him to do something about it. She knows their whole routine by now.

“I don’t know what Razz and Slim wanna eat.” She closed her notebook with a sigh, “and at this point I’m kinda scared to ask.”

“oof. that’s a tough one. i know the puppy likes caramel sauce.”

“On a sandwich? Also, ‘puppy’?”

“yeah, slim’s just like a lil puppy. ‘s what everyone else calls him. and he’s mostly mute too, so i guess that would make him a _hush_puppy, eh?”

The girl rolled her eyes at his absurd browbone wiggle but still sputtered with laughter behind her hand. “God, you’re so annoying sometimes.”

Red pulled out a chair at the table and plopped down on it, immediately leaning forward with his elbows on the table. “ya love it, though. but nah, i’m sure if ya give him the bottle of caramel sauce in the fridge he’d be satisfied.”

She pouted and twiddled her thumbs, looking at Red with her signature puppy-eyes. “The sauce for my ice cream?”

Red shrugged good-naturedly. “i’ll buy you anotha one.”

“I suppose. If it’ll make someone else happy.” She abandoned her notebook on the counter with the numerous plates of sandwiches, walking over to wrap her arms around Red, hugging him from behind and resting her head on his skull. “What about Razz?”

“uhh, just make him a roast beef. He’ll be fine.”

“You sure? He won’t get mad at me?”

“doll, if that little runt so much as sneers at ya for makin’ him a roast beef sandwich, i’m pretty sure most of us would be jumpin’ down his throat. he’ll be fine.”

She laughed, picturing how the entire fiasco would go — she’d probably be on the verge of tears for being scolded by a skeleton she barely knew, than instantaneously all the other skeletons would jump to her defense. It was sillier the more she thought about it. “Thank you, Red. I appreciate it.” She kissed his parietal bone tenderly, separating from him to make the last sandwich. “Can you tell everyone that lunch is ready? I know you just sat down, but...”

Red smiled, revealing his signature knifelike teeth. “i gotcha babe. but only cuz yer so cute.” She giggled, holding her hands to her flushed cheeks.

“Thanks Red. Love you.”

“love ya too, kid.” she ruffled her hair as he sat up from his chair, walking away and yelling (ugh, she hated when he did that) loud enough for the others to hear that lunch was ready.

Lunch was fairly normal once everyone sat down and started eating. It took a while for Razz to coax Slim into coming out of their room and sitting at the dining table with everyone else, but once he was able to sit down the girl immediately passed him the bottle of caramel sauce and, to her joy, had the opportunity of seeing his face light up with delight before quickly hiding his ducking his head — his hood was so fluffy that it did a wonderful job on obscuring most of his face — and whispering a bashful thank you. Another good note: Razz said absolutely nothing of her making him a roast beef sandwich. In fact, he even seemed to like it, which caught her by pleasant surprise.

“So,” Razz started, breaking the comfortable silence. “I know it’s been a long while since I’ve last checked in you all... how long have you had a human for?”

“the human has a name,” Red growled under his breath. The girl in question swallowed her sandwich and spoke up before anyone could start an argument.

“I’ve been with everyone for a few months by now! It almost doesn’t seem like it though, time goes by really fast when you’re with loved ones, I guess.” She inwardly cringed — that was too cheesy. She was rambling. Jeez.

Razz smirked, and it was a little difficult to tell if it was snark or genuine delight. “Loved ones? That’s cute.” He sipped his water, not taking his pupils off of her.

“Ah, thanks, I suppose...”

“So what is it that you do? What’s your profession?” She laughed nervously, averting her eyes and picking at her own sandwich.

“Not much, right now. I really just look over the house, take care of chores and the pets, y’know, things like that.”

“So a housewife of sorts?” Immediately she choked on her own spit, causing some of the skeletons around her to flinch. She grabbed her drink and took a big swig while shaking her free hand at him. “No, nonono,” she gasped when she set her glass down. “I mean it’s — I actually don’t know?”

“It’s not like it’s a bad thing,” Razz offered. “Cleaning up after six skeletons every day is pretty impressive.”

When she didn’t reply, Blue spoke up from across the dinner table, his cerulean pupils practically glittering. “That’s okay, love! You can call yourself whatever you’re comfortable with. If you don’t wanna be called a housewife then you don’t have to be one!”

“Or,” Papyrus chimed in, “you don’t even need a label at all! It’s entirely up to you.”

The girl smiled, her eyes glued to her hands in her lap. Blue and Papyrus’ energetic kindness always set her mind at ease, no matter how boisterous they can get. They were like her own personal cheersquad in the best possible way.

“Thank you both,” she said. “And Razz, I guess I’m really only their mate? Nothing more, nothing less. At least not right now.”

“Hmm,” Razz hummed before taking a sip of his drink. “I get it. But I mean what I said, it’s still impressive to be able to keep the house so clean.”

Her nerves started to calm down at Razz’s compliment. He was actually being _pleasant_. This is a lot better than what she expected lunch with him would be like — minus the small, embarrassing coughing fit she just had. “Actually, it’s not just me, Papyrus and Boss help out a lot too.”

The shorter skeleton grinned. “I figured as such. I’d be shocked if they _didn’t_ clean up every now and then, especially Boss.”

Red scoffed from his seat. “nah, boss don’t just tidy up every now an’ then, he spends every second of his life cleaning an’ organizing.”

Razz turned to Boss, as if expecting him to chide his brother for that remark, but it never happened.

“Oh please,” he scoffed. “What do you want me to say? It’s not like he’s wrong.”

A loud, almost strident meow interrupted the light conversation. The girl looked under the table and sure enough, a white cat with long, silky fur sat at the feet of Slim’s chair, gazing up at him curiously with sparkling blue eyes. She meowed again, just as insistent as before.

“Awww,” the girl cooed, “Doomfanger likes you, Slim!”

Slim, a little unsure, lowered his hand to Doomfanger’s level and sure enough, she gravitated towards it like a magnet, purring at an almost ridiculous volume and rubbing her face against it. The timid skeleton covered his smile behind his other hand.

“That is the loudest cat I have ever witnessed,” Razz observed, glancing down at Doomfanger in disbelief.

“She doesn’t know how loud she is,” Boss replied. “She’s deaf.”

“But she’s still the sweetest cat I’ve ever met!” the girl beckoned her over with a bit of lunchmeat before picking her up and placing her on her lap. Doomfanger didn’t seem to mind, her purring now at maximum volume.

“I’ve told you countless times, Miss Human,” Papyrus admonished, “stop touching the cats while you’re eating! Now you’ll have to wash your hands again.”

“Cats as in plural?” Razz hummed, only mildly interested at best. His brother beamed from his seat next to him, delighted at the idea of more animals in the house.

Papyrus fished out a small travel bottle of hand sanitizer from his pocket, motioning for his mate to put down the cat and hold out her hands. “Yes! This is Doomfanger and then there’s Crusher. She’s a naked gremlin.”

Red guffawed, picking up his bottle of lager and taking a big swallow.

“yeah, probably one of the ugliest little shits ya ever seen.”

“She’s a goblin! A nasty little girl.” The human beamed. Contrary to everyone’s word choice, their comments didn’t seem mean-spirited in the slightest.

Regardless, Boss sighed, finishing the last bite of his lunch. “I still don’t see why you must insult my cat every time you talk about her.”

“aw, lighten up boss,” Red chuckled, “everyone loves her no matta’ of how ugly she is.”

“Yucky bean.”

“wrinkly cryptid.”

“Fuzzy little nudist.”

“tiny lil’ scrotum.”

Boss, with a loud and exaggerated sigh, stood up with his empty dish. “I suppose this is where I excuse myself to go wash my plate. Thank you for lunch, love. It was delicious.” “You’re welcome Boss, love you!” Doomfanger hopped off of her lap and padded across the linoleum floor to chase after Boss, sitting next to him and rubbing her face against his boots while he stood at the sink.

Razz wiped his face with a napkin and cleared his throat. “I think I have to agree with Boss, today was long and Slim and I should finish unpacking our things. Right, Mutt?”

The skeleton in question nodded in agreement, suddenly looking very eager to leave the table.

Razz grabbed his plate as well and pushed in his chair. “Thanks for the lunch, human.” Slim followed suit, avoiding eye contact with anyone except his brother.

“Thank you, I appreciate it!” the girl chirped instinctively before realizing that was definitely not the proper reply. She winced, putting her hand to her flushed cheek and stuttering, “wait, no, I mean you’re welcome. Sorry.”

Razz, rather than mocking her anxious slip-up, cracked an amused grin instead. “It was nice meeting you. I’ll see you all later.” He was met with a chorus of casual “see ya”s and “goodbye”s when he left the kitchen, Slim following closely behind with swift yet silent footfalls.

The little human exhaled a sigh of deep relief, feeling as if a massive weight had lifted from her shoulders. “Gosh, I hate interacting with new people.”

“i dunno, i thought you did a pretty good job,” Stretch commented, leaning back in his chair in a way that was very much a serious safety hazard. “up until that last part.”

“Don’t make fun of me!” She scolded through poorly-contained giggles.

Blue rose from his seat and stood behind her chair, wrapping his arms around his mate’s shoulders. “It’ll get easier the more you get to know them. It just takes time.”

She leaned her head back into his embrace, caressing his radial bone. “I appreciate it Blue. Y’know, they’re not as bad as i thought they were? Razz seemed kinda polite.”

Red scoffed, half-chewed food still in his mouth. “he can be polite, but that don’t mean he don’t know how to be a brat.”

“Red, you’re being too hard on him,” Papyrus chided. “As always. And don’t talk with your mouth full, Boss and I have talked to you about that many times already.”

“i mean, it’s not like i don’t love him or anythin’, we just get on eachotha's nerves a lot. goes both ways.”

Blue hummed, his cheekbone resting on the human’s scalp, “Just try not to get into too many arguments. It can get annoying.”

Red waved him off. “yeah, yeah, i gotcha babyblue.”

Sans cast Red one of his signature “Sans Looks” — a stare with raised brow bones and, although he still sported a small smile, anyone who knew him could tell that he was being deadly serious for once. “if i get any complaints, i’m gonna be comin’ for you two.”

Red grunted.

“i mean it, red.”

“you always do.”

The girl motioned for Blue to let go of her so she could stand up and grab the empty plates of those who had already finished their lunch (and playfully bop Red on the skull for being grumpy, to which he replied by flashing a smile full of razor sharp teeth). “I’m really exhausted from everything that’s happened today, so I think I’m gonna take a nap. Are you all gonna be okay with that?”

Papyrus stood up as well, taking the dishes from her hand without question, “If you’re too tired, I think it’s best to take a nap, at least for a little bit.” Balancing the plates in one hand, he pat her head with the other — something everyone did regularly because she was so tiny compared to everyone else. “Set your alarm so you don’t oversleep.”

Stretch stretched (_heh_) with an obnoxiously loud groan. “hey pap, how come you always encourage everyone to rest unless they’re sans?” Despite his question, he seemed mildly amused by it.

“Simple. That’s because —“ Papyrus narrowed his eyes at the skeleton in question, who leaned back in his chair with a smug look on his face. “— I know Sans. He doesn’t just rest, he hibernates. _Constantly_.”

Sans shrugged. “you got me. sleeping is all i live for. n’fact, i’m so good at it —“

“y’can do it with yer eyes closed,” Red finished, rolling his pupils in his sockets. “ya say that joke like every otha day. get new material.”

Sans seemed unbothered by his harsh comment, only winking and shooting a casual finger gun in his direction.

“You all better behave while I nap,” the human glanced behind her as she passed the threshold from the kitchen into the living room. “Love you guys.”

Numerous “I love you toos” of varying levels of enthusiasm sounded off behind her as she bounded up the stairs.

Razz and Slim both left in a hurry, it seemed. The younger of the two seemed to care deeply for his brother, maybe he was able to tell how uncomfortable he was and didn’t want him to stay longer that he could handle?. She can’t help but sympathize with poor Slim; something must’ve happened for him to act so skittish and… jumpy. Though she doesn’t like being reminded of it, during her first few weeks after meeting her gaggle of skeletons, she acted in a similar matter. She, nor anyone else, ever brings it up.

Suddenly, as she reaches the topmost step, an image of that little stuffed dog pops into her mind. He looked almost afraid of having anyone see it, almost like it was something to be ashamed of. If she could only do one thing to help Slim out at that moment, it would be to show him that it’s okay to have a stuffed animal friend, and that comfort objects of any sort don’t have to be considered “embarrassing.”

She took off for her bedroom, swung the door open, and made a beeline for her pile of stuffed animals. She giant soft ones, tiny scraggy ones, plushies that were dirty and worn with age… She couldn’t bring herself to part with most of them (and understandably so, plushies were so _expensive_ nowadays) but she did come across one at the bottom of the pile: a medium sized teddy bear with golden fur and a red gingham bandana wrapped lovingly around its neck. She had gotten this particular toy from a bin at a thrift store, with a handwritten tag with the phrase “bread pudding” stapled to its ear, so it was only customary that the bear be known from then on as Bread Pudding. It had stiff, posable limbs as well, so while it may not be a good candidate for sleeping with, it could definitely be a nice addition to a shelf or a nightstand.

She wished one last farewell to it, kissing its fizzy forehead and walking into the hallway once again. If she remembered correctly, the spare room they had was all the way down the hall on the wall opposite to hers. Swallowing the slight apprehension that began to bubble up in her gut, she knocked on the door gently.

...Though maybe, _too_ gently? There was no response from the other side of the door. She scrunched her nose in confusion and knocked again, louder this time, only to jump back with a yelp as the door flung open, revealing a tiny yet perturbed skeleton.

“I heard you the first time, human,” Razz all but snapped — _which is kind of unfair considering she hadn’t heard any indication that he knew she was knocking but y’know _— “What do you want?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you, but I wanted to give something to Slim? If that’s okay?”

Said skeleton peeked from behind the door at the mention of his name, shy but intrigued nonetheless. Razz however, didn’t seem convinced. “Give him something? Why? What reason do you have?”

She stuttered, shrinking in on herself. This was so much harder than she thought. How was she supposed to explain why without embarrassing poor Slim in the process? “I can’t really— It’s more of a housewarming gift? I guess??” Yeah, _real_ smooth. That’ll convince him. With an internal exclamation of _fuck it_, she took the bear from behind her back and thrust it in their directon, the sudden movement making them both jump.

“I just want you to take this bear, his name is Bread Pudding and I know that sounds embarrassing but that’s the name he came with, I want Slim to know that stuffed animals aren’t a thing to be ashamed of _and that I have a lot and if he ever wants to borrow some he can whenever he likes_ —“

She cut herself off, slowly realizing how crazy she must look right now. She was debating on just taking the bear and running back to her bedroom, but Razz took the bear from her, turning it over and observing it from all angles. Slim peeped over his shoulder with a hopeful but cautious look in his eyes.

Razz suddenly glared daggers at her. “You better not be mocking him, human.”

“No! No, I promise I’d never do anything like that.” She glances down at the ugly carpet, trying to ignore the angry look she was receiving. “I just know how it feels and…” She looks up at the taller skeleton, “Slim, I just want you to know that you’re safe, and that I’m excited to have you as a housemate. If that’s okay.”

Slim took the bear out of his brother’s grasp, bringing it close to him and studying it much like Razz had been doing, running his phalanges over its fur. “...his name is bread pudding?” he inquired with the softest voice.

The human nodded.

Slim finally cracked a gentle smile. “thank you… i like him.”

Her heart fluttered in her chest. “I’m so glad! You can keep him if you want. And I have lots more if you ever wanna borrow any, or just look at them.” Slim nodded, looking grateful. “...thank you, human.”

She flashed him a thumbs-up with a bubbly grin on her face. “I hope you’re both able to settle in good! I’m gonna take a nap for a bit but if you need something, just let us know okay?”

To say Razz looked dumbfounded at her kindness was an understatement. After a quick moment, he nodded stiffy. “Yeah. Ah, thanks human. I’ll see you around.”

He closed the door and the girl let loose a heaving sigh of relief while she walked back to her own bedroom. That went so much better than she had expected. She was actually excited to be living with them both now; they didn’t seem to be bad people at all, and from what she could gather, Razz just wanted to protect himself and his brother. Her goal was that, over time, they’ll be able to realize that this house is a place where they can trust one another, where they can be safe. She didn’t want to think about that right yet however — she was exhausted and the only thing on her mind was taking off her skirt and snuggling into her warm quilt. And that’s exactly what she did as soon as she shut her door, but then she remembered:

She had to get the pair’s furnishing tomorrow from their old apartment.

She sighed, already exhausted just from thinking about it.

**Author's Note:**

> fbfnfn d s i always get sk scared of uploading these fjfjs 
> 
> twitter: ninjibinji  
tumblr: niinji but i NEVER use it lmao
> 
> thank you everyone, see you all soon hopefully <3


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